Reports

A federal jury in Chicago convicted an Illinois pharmacist on Friday for stealing and selling COVID-19 vaccination cards.

Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that KONRAD BICHER pled guilty today to wire fraud in connection with his fraudulent operation of real estate companies, including by entering lease agreements for residential apartment units in Manhattan on false and fraudulent pretenses and by making false statements to obtain loans guaranteed by the United States government.

A San Bernardino County woman was sentenced today to 30 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining more than $500,000 in pandemic-related unemployment insurance benefits by using the names of inmates locked up the California state prison system.

Chief U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar sentenced Alexander Barabash, age 52, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to 14 months in federal prison, followed by six months of home detention as part of three years of supervised release, for wire fraud relating to the submission of fraudulent Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act loan applications. The CARES Act was enacted in March 2020 to provide emergency financial assistance to Americans suffering from the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

U.S. District Judge Theodore D. Chuang today sentenced Jerry Phillips, a/k/a “Tian Juzo,” age 25, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, to seven years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for a wire fraud conspiracy, aggravated identity theft, and illegal possession of a machine gun, related to a scheme to fraudulently obtain more than $1 million in COVID-19 CARES Act Paycheck Protection Program loan applications (“PPP”), Economic Injury Disaster loan applications (“EIDL”), and unemployment insurance claims. Judge Chuang also ordered Phillips to pay restitution of $1,235...

MIAMI – A federal magistrate judge in Miami has unsealed an indictment charging Patrick Ductant, 35, of Pembroke Pines, Fla., Kervens Saint-Hilaire, 35, of Hollywood, Fla., and Vladimir

BOSTON – A West Boylston man has pleaded guilty in federal court in Worcester to possessing cocaine intended for distribution and wire fraud with respect to COVID-19 relief programs.